Gormley unveils citizen’s carbon counter

THE travelling public need to trim their wings if they are to stop carbon emissions soaring — and that includes Environment Minister John Gormley.

A new “carbon calculator” devised to help people measure their greenhouse gas emissions shows the single biggest contributor to the average householder’s carbon footprint is aeroplane flights.

Mr Gormley tried the calculator himself yesterday and found his total came to more than 11 tonnes of carbon in a year — well over the European average of 8 and almost three times the target level of 4.

“Ironically, what killed me was my flights to Bali for the Climate Change Summit last year,” he confessed. “It just shows, you can be as good as you like and as green as you like at home, but once you step on a plane, your CO2 emissions go through the roof.”

The calculator works online on the website www.change.ie and asks users to fill in details about their home, energy use and transport arrangements, with each answer given a carbon emission measured in kilogrammes and tonnes, totalled at the end of the exercise which takes about five to 10 minutes.

Typical questions cover the number of units of gas or electricity used in the last billing period, or the amount of the bill for the less technically minded; the extent of home insulation, the kind of light bulbs fitted, the type of car driven and miles covered, and the frequency with which household appliances are used.

Users will quickly see that poor insulation, solid fuel heating, extensive car travel — and especially air miles are the surefire way to a shamefully high score.

“We’re trying to show people how their everyday activities produce carbon emissions and also to show them how they can change,” said Lorraine Fitzgerald of the Change campaign, which is commissioned by the Department of the Environment.

“We’re giving people an individual target to get to and everyone gets a change plan that suggests specific things they can do, based on the information they have supplied, which would help reduce their score. We ask people to register so that their profile is saved and then they can go back and update it and see how the actions they have taken have helped,” she said.

Users can also sign up for regular email and text message reminders so that their good intentions don’t lose momentum. The initiative comes as Ireland faces severe pressure in trying to meet the carbon reduction targets set by the international Kyoto convention and the European Union.

The EU says Ireland must reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2020 and there is a possibility the target will be increased to 30% before the year is out. The biggest challenges lie with agriculture, industry and transport but Mr Gormley said every individual had a role to play on the basis that “every little helps”.

“It’s not just a global problem, it’s a domestic problem as well. You can show people that by reducing their emissions, they can save considerably as well so it will have an impact.”

He said he believed a target of four tonnes per person was “achievable” — despite the country’s love affair with flight. “You should choose your flights more judiciously but we’re an island nation and we like to get away when vacationing. That is undoubtedly the toughest nut to crack.”